Saturday, June 15, 2013

Is Snowden Really A Double Agent Sent By USA To China To Assess Chinese Hacking Capabilities?

Edward Snowden, a former contractor for the U.S. National Security
Agency, said he believed there had been more than 61,000 NSA hacking
operations globally, including hundreds in Hong Kong and on the Chinese
mainland. Those claims followed intelligence leaks Mr. Snowden made
earlier this month to British newspaper the Guardian about U.S.
surveillance, which prompted a political furor in the U.S.
When it comes to Hong Kong politics, activists typically see Beijing
as the main source of meddling in local affairs. Although the former
British colony returned to mainland rule in 1997 and continues to
operate with its own distinctive political systems and rule of law,
pro-democracy activists fear Beijing is encroaching on the city.
“Usually we hear from Western media that Chinese government is the
one hacking,” said Oiwan Lam of Hong Kong In-media, which supports
citizen journalism and is helping organize a rally Saturday in support
of Mr. Snowden. “But apparently it’s a double standard, and when the
U.S. hacks we are just in the dark,” said Ms. Lam.
Supporters plan to march Saturday on Hong Kong’s government and the U.S. consulate.
“What are we going to say to fight our battles now [against Chinese hacking] if the U.S. is doing the same?” she said.
While some Hong Kong lawmakers called on the government to ask for
clarifications from Washington about what activities were carried out,
others said the allegations so far didn’t seem to amount to much. “We
all know Hong Kong is a city where lots of spying has been carried out.
If the U.S. government has been spying in Hong Kong, that’s not
surprising at all,” said lawyer Martin Lee, who helped establish the
city’s Democratic Party. Compared with Chinese spying activities in Hong
Kong, he said, the U.S.’s activities so far revealed by Mr. Snowden are
“nothing.”
Mr. Lee said he already assumes his phone line is bugged and his
office computers regularly the target of Chinese hackers. “At least if I
know that there’s more than one government is spying on me I might feel
safer, that way it’s not just the Chinese,” said Mr. Lee, who doesn’t
expect the local movement supporting Mr. Snowden to gain much traction.
“People think it’s really a matter between a U.S. citizen and his
government. I doubt if that [issue] would raise too much enthusiasm from
Hong Kong citizens,” he said.
On Thursday, a spokeswoman for China’s Foreign Ministry said she had
no information on Mr. Snowden’s claims and reiterated China’s stance
that it is a victim rather than a perpetrator of hacking. The Chinese
University in Hong Kong, which Mr. Snowden named as one target of
American hacking and is home to the Hong Kong Internet Exchange—an
Internet hub for the Asia-Pacific region—said it hadn’t detected any
form of hacking on its network.
While China’s state-controlled media at first paid minimal attention
Mr. Snowden’s case, his latest allegations spurred various outlets to
become more vocal. On Thursday, CCTV highlighted Mr. Snowden’s claims in
its widely watched evening news broadcast. On Friday, Hong Kong’s
Communist Party-sympathizing Chinese-language newspaper Wen Wei Po ran a
photo illustration of Mr. Snowden’s head imposed on the body of a man
wearing a long trenchcoat, frozen in a “Matrix”-style pose, under the
headline “The U.S. Breaches Hong Kong Computers, Meddles in Hong Kong
Affairs.”
Mr. Snowden has said that he wants to stay in Hong Kong, where he has
been hiding out since May 20. He told the South China Morning Post that
he ultimately plans to fight the U.S. in its courts. While Hong Kong
has an extradition treaty with the U.S. government, if he chooses to
apply for asylum or contest any potential extradition, Mr. Snowden could
prolong his stay in Hong Kong for potentially years, lawyers say.
Still, Hong Kong-based lawyer Kevin Egan said it wasn’t likely Mr.
Snowden would be able to escape extradition if the U.S. issues a
request. “If I was his legal adviser, I’d be telling him to get out of
town,” said Mr. Egan, citing the numerous occasions on which Hong Kong
has surrendered suspects back to the U.S. “He says he has a great deal
of faith in Hong Kong’s legal system and he’s going to stay and fight?
Good luck to him.”
Lawyer Ronny Tong said that Hong Kong could be a good base for Mr.
Snowden if his goal is to get his message out, given its international
media presence and independent judicial system. But he cautioned that
top-notch legal representation in Hong Kong for Mr. Snowden will be
expensive, particularly if it ends up involving a protracted yearslong
battle. In such a case, Mr. Snowden could wind up with a bill for up to
$650,000 in legal fees, Mr. Tong said.
In addition to the attention Mr. Snowden’s allegations have received
in Hong Kong and in state media, they’ve also been the object of some
amusement—as well as outrage—on China’s voluble social media network.
“Chinese exiles used to run to America,” posted one user of the
popular Sina Weibo microblogging service Thursday. “Now Americans start
running to China.”– Te-Ping Chen and Brian Spegele

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I am a thoroughly civilized, humane, cosmopolitan, polished, restrained, enjoyable, entertaining Info-maniac. I am a staunch exponent of individual dignity, freedom, equal access to legal services, and equal protection of the law. Here I hope to demonstrate my emotional restraint, humbleness of sentiment, psychological subtlety, lucid style, and simple language, without evading political reality or eternal truth. Daily I am excited that I have the right to create the beginning of a new self and to challenge old habits and attitudes I no longer choose to accept. I choose to relax in the present with my direction firmly in mind. I have an enormous capacity for creative and clever ideas and thoughts. It is phenomenal what I can do. I am capable of so much learning and absorbing a lot of information. My potential is a source of pleasant surprise for me.
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